Where is your CT before class begins? What is he or she doing? How and when does your CT open class? How is homework from the previous night reviewed/collected/assessed?
Once the bell rings at the end of a class, my cooperating teacher places herself in the doorway to her classroom and watches both the hallway and her classroom at the same time. Once the second bell rings, specifying the start of class, my cooperating teacher walks to the front of the room and reads aloud a question that the students are to answer in their journals. The students immediately start answering the question while the teacher goes to her desk, at the back of the classroom, and takes attendance. Her desk is set up so that she is facing her students when she sits down. After about five minutes, my cooperating teacher goes back to the front of the room and asks the students to put away their journals and take out their homework. During this observation, the teacher began reviewing the homework with the class, but she did not actually check their work.
When I begin teaching, I would like to open the class just as my cooperating teacher does. The journal writing at the start of each class is a great routine to get the students into because it demonstrates to them that class begins the moment they walk in. Even though the teacher prompts the students by reading them the journal question at the start of class, most of the students have already taken out their journals and begun the assignment. I think that students at this age (grade 8) function well with routines and that this particular routine helps to discourage tardiness because the students understand that class will begin as soon as the bell rings. I am unsure of whether or not my cooperating teacher grades these journals, but when I teach, I would choose random assignments to grade so that the students won't stop the routine because they feel their work doesn't count towards their grade. As for where the teacher places herself when the bell rings, I also like this behavior because I would be able to make sure there is no trouble outside my classroom while, at the same time, making sure that as the students leave and come into my classroom they are taking everything with them and starting their journal writing task. Finally, I like the way that my cooperating teacher goes over homework. She reviews the hardest of the questions and she draws out the answers from the students by having an open discussion. If I were to use this technique, I would be able to get an idea of who understood the homework and who did not by participation in the discussion and by the body language of the students during the discussion. Also, the students who had trouble with the assignment would have a chance to review the material during the discussion. As a teacher, I plan on grading larger homework assignments and occassionally checking for homework so that the students do not begin to feel as though the homework is pointless and not worth their effort.
Once the bell rings at the end of a class, my cooperating teacher places herself in the doorway to her classroom and watches both the hallway and her classroom at the same time. Once the second bell rings, specifying the start of class, my cooperating teacher walks to the front of the room and reads aloud a question that the students are to answer in their journals. The students immediately start answering the question while the teacher goes to her desk, at the back of the classroom, and takes attendance. Her desk is set up so that she is facing her students when she sits down. After about five minutes, my cooperating teacher goes back to the front of the room and asks the students to put away their journals and take out their homework. During this observation, the teacher began reviewing the homework with the class, but she did not actually check their work.
When I begin teaching, I would like to open the class just as my cooperating teacher does. The journal writing at the start of each class is a great routine to get the students into because it demonstrates to them that class begins the moment they walk in. Even though the teacher prompts the students by reading them the journal question at the start of class, most of the students have already taken out their journals and begun the assignment. I think that students at this age (grade 8) function well with routines and that this particular routine helps to discourage tardiness because the students understand that class will begin as soon as the bell rings. I am unsure of whether or not my cooperating teacher grades these journals, but when I teach, I would choose random assignments to grade so that the students won't stop the routine because they feel their work doesn't count towards their grade. As for where the teacher places herself when the bell rings, I also like this behavior because I would be able to make sure there is no trouble outside my classroom while, at the same time, making sure that as the students leave and come into my classroom they are taking everything with them and starting their journal writing task. Finally, I like the way that my cooperating teacher goes over homework. She reviews the hardest of the questions and she draws out the answers from the students by having an open discussion. If I were to use this technique, I would be able to get an idea of who understood the homework and who did not by participation in the discussion and by the body language of the students during the discussion. Also, the students who had trouble with the assignment would have a chance to review the material during the discussion. As a teacher, I plan on grading larger homework assignments and occassionally checking for homework so that the students do not begin to feel as though the homework is pointless and not worth their effort.